Conference Features Concrete Solutions for a New Century

Nearly 400 attendees from 36 countries turned out to discuss the use of concrete in developing long-lasting pavement solutions for the 21st century at the Seventh International Conference on Concrete Pavements. Held September 9-13, 2001, in Orlando, Florida, the event also featured 14 exhibits.

The conference was sponsored by the International Society for Concrete Pavements, with cosponsors including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, American Concrete Pavement Association, Florida Department of Transportation, Innovative Pavement Research Foundation, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Participants could choose from a range of breakout sessions targeted at pavement, materials, and geotechnical engineering professionals involved in various aspects of concrete pavement design, construction, testing, and rehabilitation. Topics included fast track paving, Portland cement concrete pavement (PCC) rehabilitation, concrete pavements for high-volume urban highways, performance-related specifications and warranties for PCC pavements, and prestressed concrete pavements. Innovations such as these have made concrete paving faster, less expensive, and more durable. Warranties, for example, are intended to guarantee the pavement's workmanship, materials, and performance for normally up to 5 years service life, thus ensuring a better product. Performance-related specifications, meanwhile, help highway agencies better evaluate the quality of construction work and predict the future maintenance, rehabilitation, and other life-cycle costs of PCC pavements. And fast track paving using high early strength PCC mixtures minimizes traffic disruptions and cuts costs by allowing roads to reopened to traffic in less than a day.

Also featured at the conference was FHWA's Mobile Concrete Laboratory, which demonstrates a wide range of conventional and innovative nondestructive concrete tests. More than 200 conference participants visited the laboratory. "The Mobile Lab was the highlight of the exhibit program. It allowed a lot of people to experience the latest in concrete testing technology," says Shiraz Tayabji of Construction Technology Laboratories, Inc.